The Early Moon Chronicles
by Michaela Will
Summary: My first publications. A short story for each character from their childhood. Some Spoilerish Warnings.
1. Chapter 1

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela

G to PG ratings for the collection

Collection Introduction

Hi! I'm Michaela Wills. I've just started writing Sailor Moon Fanfics and I hope that you like my tales and continue to read them.  
Now for the traditional disclaimer! (Better safe than Sued!)

Disclaimer: (For all the Early Moon Chronicles) I don't own any of the Senshi, Tux, or Naru and all rights belong to the original author (Takeuchi Naoko) for her magna and various other companies. I'm only using these characters for the enjoyment of other fans and don't mean to infringe on any copyrights, ect. I don't mean any ill will on the charcters or their owners Now then . . . to the good stuff!  
We all (hopefully) are aware that Hotaru showed signs of her power, even before she became a Sailor Senshi. We learned this from memories of her childhood years, as she was alienated by the other children for her odd abilities. But is she the only one of the Sailor, who at a young age, showed signs of the prowess that they posessed? Did some of them, like Hotaru, feel like outcasts from a young age? Or is it only now, as a senshi, that they have to sever themselves from the friends they always had?

Michaela whips out her crystal ball  
The Early Moon Chronicles explores some of the possiblities for each of the future senshi. Ages vary, so if an age is not noted during the story, assume that the to-be Senshi is around 10. And now please sit back & ride into the past, through the eyes of my crystal ball and I, and enjoy . . .  
The Early Moon Chronicles!

billowing flashback-type smoke

Orenda's TEMC Notes and Specific Notes:

First thing's first: This is my first PUBLISHED Fanfic. If you like what you see, please let me know. These Fics are a self-sufficent COLLECTION of short stories, meaning you can pick and choose whose stories to read without having to read chronologically to understand. Got that?  
I also have a thing with background information. Most background for these stories comes from the Anime; Original season thru SMS. Also, the background to Mamoru's story also includes a little Magna background, explained in my Specific Notes section.

Specific Notes: Story 1-Moon: The 'other side/part' of Usagi I refer to constantly is her princess personality, which I really hope is obvious enough. There's alot of other tie-ins to the different aspects of SM. See how many you can connect. The tune in her heart is Moonlight Destiny, what else?

Story 2-Tuxedo Kamen: To clarify, Mamoru's mysterious 'friend' that he can't remember is Nephlite (in the magna, the four General's were Endymion's Generals before brainwashed into serving Beryl.) and the tune is of course Moonlight Destiny; the theme song that plays from Usagi's locket. grins

Story 4-Venus: Yes, the cat in the tree is Artemis. winks

Story 6-Jupiter: Mako's past is pretty much unknown before her parent's death. I used that to explain a few facets of her personality with her past and explain how some things that are associated with Mako came to be (cooking, karate, the rose earrings)  
And yes, the little blond she protects is Usagi, a little reminder of everything to come! winks

Story 7-Saturn: Okay, there's definite background to this. If you have never seen/read the later SMS eps, pay attention. We're told in flashback form that most of Hotaru's childhood, she's outcasted. A particular incident, in which Hotaru 'supposedly' hurt a classmate, she comes in the next day and asks what happened to the child. The others get mad at her innoncence, because she did it, but she honestly didn't remember (think of her blackouts, she's being groomed to host Mistress Nine, for God's sakes, of course there's going to be violent incidents)  
She goes home and cries to her father, who tells her she's not evil (I changed that part of course) end of flashback. Tomoe Hotaru means 'Earth Firefly', so you can see why I used the firefly in such strong symbolism.

Story 10-Pluto: Okay, this one's a real mix. Cerberus is my character, based on the 3-headed dog that guards the entrance to Hades' domain in Greek Mythology. My own belief is that there's only one Sailor Pluto forever, so I couldn't give her a full childhood as Meioh Setsuna. This story sparked me to begin work on a (still incomplete) Fanfic centered on my views of Setsuna/Sailor Pluto and the differences between her existance and everyone elses. Hopefully that fic will be completed soon and you'll be able to understand the theories that aren't fully explained in this fic 


	2. Moon

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 1 - 'Touch of Destiny'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Moon'

Two girls played in the park, happily running in wide circles around the trees and across the paved paths. They darted into and around lovers strolling through the gardens, wrecking havoc on a game of baseball taking place in an open area, disrupting the pleasant idleness of lounging families along the lake's edge and shrieking in high pitched eight-year-old voices all the while. In a final all-or-nothing shot, the brunette pitched herself at the darting blond, knocking the other girl to the ground with her in a tumbling heap as they rolled down the hillside towards the docks.

They laid there, breathing heavily from their good ten minute jolt around the entire park, laughing as they did so. After a moment of rest, the brunette leaned over the scant centimeters between them and poked the other strongly in the ribs.

"You're It, Usa-chan!" She announced, a grin spreading across her face from one ear to the other. Usagi's Cheshire grin matching her friends' perfectly.

"Oh yeah"  
"Yeah"  
"Oh yeah!" She sat up, trying to be intimidating towards her slightly taller friend.  
"Yeah!" Naru matched the action.  
"Oh yeah?" She cried again, pushing her friend into the dirt and tickling her with all her might. Naru laughed, unable to control the spasms that wracked her body from Usagi's tickling.  
"Say 'Give' Naru-chan, say 'Give'." Usagi insisted, making sure her friend continued to squirm.

"G-G-Give! I give, I give!" Naru panted loudly as her blond companion finally ended her assault. They stayed like that for a few more moments, vaguely aware of the dimming light as the sun began to hasten it's descent to the earth. Naru flashed Usagi a brilliant smile suddenly.

"But that doesn't mean that you're not still It!" Naru flung herself to her feet, running easily again as Usagi stumbled to her feet in trying to catch her friend.

"Ohhh . . . Get back here you! You're gonna pay for that!" And off the girls ran, continuing the havoc they created as before.

It was good and dark by the time Naru made a wrong turn, nearly running into her pursuer, who took the opportunity to tag her friend easily. Both laughed, collapsing to the ground, now thoroughly exhausted. Laying back, they stared at the patterns of trees, night sky and appearing stars.

"Hey, Naru-chan. I think we better start going to your house. It's getting really late."

Naru sat up, looking around her in a state of semi-perplexity. Her face suddenly brightened as she stood, turning to Usagi and pulling the blond to her feet. "Okay, I think it's this way!" They started off, Naru in the slight lead as Usagi followed her blindly through the park.  
They reached an exit to the park, and without a second thought crept into the darkness of the streets.

Usagi continued to follow her friend, but she began to feel dread creeping into her. She looked at her friend in concern. Naru's brow was knit in heavy concentration, studying the fork in the streets before them.  
"Naru-chan"  
"Hmm"  
"This doesn't look familiar. Are you sure this is the way home?"

Naru looked up at the street sign and finding the name completely unfamiliar began to cry. It was a rather desperate move for the usually rash Naru. She'd concealed her fear until now, and with their obvious disorientation pointed out, she could no longer stand not having a childish fit.  
"I'm sorry, Usa-chan! I got us lost, I-I don't know where to go! It's dark, I've never walked home in just the dark before! I-I-I . . ."

Usagi took her friend in a supportive hug, wanting to cry herself. Her lower lip trembled at the thought of being lost and the desire to plunk herself onto the pavement with Naru at her side was nearly overwhelming. But then how would they get home? One of them had to remain calm, and unlike normal, it wasn't going to be Naru. Something deep inside Usagi began to creep to the surface, fighting the years of unconscious repression to keep this other part of her away. It rose slowly, Making it's way past the personality she'd built to keep this one at bay, as something not-so-foreign to her took control.

"Hey, It's okay, Naru-chan. We'll get home, don't worry. I promise we'll get home."

Naru sniffed nodding as Usagi looked around her for a place to start. Peaking down each street, she tried to find something that would be of use to them. When she finally looked back down the street they stood on in the direction which they had come, she found her point. "Come on, what we need is right here." she said, pulling her friend to the front of a large building as the other people on the street ignored the children thoroughly.

"There." She said, pointing to the map of Tokyo that hung in the middle of the tourist center window. "Let's see if we can find somewhere to start." She mused as the two girls studied the map in renewed hopes.

"Straight through two blocks, left for two, right one, another left. Straight through two blocks, left for two, right one, left. . ." Usagi muttered over to herself as they began to walk from the tourist center.  
"And that should put us on the same street as the Video Arcade, and we know the way home from there." Naru chirped to her friend as they made their way towards the first left. Slowly, their normal pleasing chatter returned, as Usagi's occasional mutterings changed to fit the streets that passed them by.

Finally the pair reached the Video Arcade. Staring at the sign before them, they began to jump in delight, holding hands and skipping in circles as they did so. Squealing in delight, they began to run for the street that would lead to the O-SAP Jewelry Store. It was now a race, and Usagi, being in the practice of running, was the faster of the two.  
Even though she tripped and stumbled along the way now, having repressed that other part of her again, she was turning the corners of the streets marginally ahead of the panting brunette who followed.

She screeched to a dead halt on the last of the consecutively vacant avenues they passed, nearly falling as she stared at what blocked her from the last corner to the O-SAP Jewelry Store. The menacing creature,  
clothed in a dark raincoat of sorts began to lumber towards Usagi as Naru slammed into her. They stared for a moment at the night-covered monster who began to come towards them. In a flash of realization, Usagi noticed it's quickened pace and apparent targets. Them.

Usagi didn't know who this was, a burglar, maybe. Or a kidnapper? All of her childhood horror tales surfaced to the top of her head, along with that long hidden part that was finally being let room to breathe. It began to speak take control in her panic. It's after you! Naru-chan too, you have to get her out of here and to safety! She's your friend, you can't let it hurt her!

Hearing the pleas in her mind, she began to act, turning around and pushing Naru ahead.  
"GO! RUN, NARU-CHAN, RUN!" She screeched, pushing Naru back around the corner whence they came and giving her friend a start. She was so busy making sure that Naru was getting a good head start as she ran with all her might, that she was unaware of the figure looming over her. Naru happened to glance over her shoulder as she took off and noting the creature standing over her friend, began to double-back, screaming at the blond.

"USAGI!" It was then, hearing Naru's cry, feeling the strain, seeing her run back, and finally feeling the presence behind her that caused Usagi to turn around in one of those terrible slow motion moments that strikes mortal terror into the heart. A scream of untouchable fear erupted from Usagi, the dark shadow looming overhead, the darkness wrapping it, concealing a face. The darkness, the blinding blackness that concealed it's head covered her in a thick blanket. The moment slowing as terror overtook her, giving it's victim the tiniest taste of her future, as dozens of horrible, unseen and yet unnamed evils that she would someday face took the place of that blackness, deepening her terror.

The hooded figure reached out to her, grasping her fear-frozen wrist, as her other hand moved up to push aside the hood . . . and uncover one of the terrifying faces that Usagi had seen flash through her mind. Her fright thawed her slightly, reviving motion as Usagi now struggled against the tough grip that kept her from running in fear. The figure finally uncloaked itself, smiling on the young girl.

"Hey, Usagi-chan, it's just me." Usagi slowly looked up from the cowering position she'd taken, face covered by her free hand to see Naru's mother standing over her holding her wrist. Naru had also stopped running and stood a few meters away, staring at her mother as Usagi did. And in that one moment, the mood of ominous bleakness lifted and the night was once again comforting.

Naru and Usagi sat in Naru's room, both on her bed with an extensive collection of magna and stickers spread in the space between them. "Well, I like these ones, even if you don't."

Usagi looked over at the card of stickers that Naru held. She made a face at them, "No, I don't like those. You can have them if you do."

Naru smiled widely, "Thanks. If you want those, I don't mind you keeping them." she answered, gesturing at the selection of cards Usagi held. "I think that's a fair trade, don't you?"

Usagi smiled with a nod. Turning back to the stickers in her hand, her eyes fell across single silver one. She allowed the others to drop away as she stared at it. It was horizontal rectangle with rounded corners and a metallic silver background. Yet what stunned her was a beautiful castle, pretty as a picture book and white as snow with warm gray trim falling across it and tall rose red towers, trimmed in gray. It didn't look familiar, but reminded her of a castle that appeared in her minds' eye immediately after seeing the castle fully. They were totally different, but both elegant and proud. Yet seeing the first triggered her dream castle to pop into her mind.

She blinked at it and fell into a state of deep thought. She couldn't explain what had happened to her earlier. She was rarely ever . . . composed . . . rational . . . observant . . . mindful . . .  
in control. And yet that very evening she'd been all that and more. She'd become what she knew she could be but never tried to make herself into, because she didn't care to be it. But why? She thought idly, Why don't I want that? I felt . . . right, like that. Graceful, mindful, confident and composed. I'm never like that any other time. But I don't want to be like that. I want to in some ways, but everything else screams at me not to. But why don't I want that? I felt right, it felt right . . .

Because, answered some part deep inside her, Because you are not that yet, you will be, have faith. But that is not who you are now. Someday, your desire to be THAT Tsukino Usagi will make you into her, but that's not now. Be patient. She is part of you, and one day, you will embrace her as yourself.

I don't understand . .  
You will, someday, you will. But for now, be you and enjoy every minute as Tsukino Usagi. Live, Usagi, live . . .

And with that, she could no longer speak to that part of her.  
"Usa-chan . . . hello, Usa-chan? Are you okay in there?" Naru had crawled over the stickers and magna, and poised on all fours she'd lifted a hand, waving it before her friend's blank eyes. Usagi began to blink, bring herself back from the odd conversation within herself. Shaking her head, wondering if she was honestly okay she slowly answered.

"Yeah, Naru-chan, I'm fine . . . just thinking." Naru looked at her, her brows furrowing in concern as she'd done so many times before when Usagi did or said something uncharacteristic. She quickly raised a hand to Usagi's face, feeling her forehead and cheeks for any signs of unnatural warmth.

"Are you SURE! You were 'just thinking' Usa-chan? I don't know about this . . ." She paused for a moment, sitting back on her heels, oblivious to the magna underneath her. "Maybe I should get a thermometer, or you should go home . . . you thinking . . . maybe you have some rare disease . . ." Naru pondered in a thoughtful pose before Usagi hit her shoulder roughly, causing the girl to lose her balance and land not-so-gracefully on the floor.

"HEY! I'm not that bad!" This night had been weird enough by Usagi's current standards and she wasn't going to let her friend get away with that comment, especially since she was supposed to sleep over tonight. And if there was one thing that Usagi REALLY enjoyed, it was a whole night without her brother snoring in the next room!

She was pouting with her arms crossed, but she wouldn't stay like that for long. All Naru needed to do was yank on one of the bunny-slipper encased feet and Usagi came tumbling to the floor without a touch of the dignity she'd been attempting to portray a moment before. It didn't take long before these two giggling girls were sprawled across the floor in a huge tickle-war . . . which quickly escalated to a pillow fight when Usagi tried to fend off her brown haired friend with her treasured pillow. It took the screaming of one thoroughly agitated mother to cease the flying of pillows, which left the two girls downstairs before the living room television watching 24 hour cartoons in sleeping bags.

"Usa-chan?" Naru asked, sitting upright in her bag.  
"Hmm?" Usagi responded, still looking at the television.  
"Were you scared today? On the way home?" she asked quietly, causing Usagi to look away from the screen, eyes wide as saucers at her friend,  
whose own eyes had the signs of soon to come tears showing through.  
" . . . yes. I was, but it's not your fault, Naru-chan. You just didn't want me to worry, It's okay, we're both fine!" She said, starting slowly, then quickly accelerating through the rest.

Naru gave her a soft smile, almost amused at the way Usagi rushed. "Thank you, I-I didn't want you to be hurt, thanks for understanding"  
Usagi smiled in return.

"That's what friends do right? I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me!" Naru had to smile at this, but her expression returned to her semi-serious worried one after a moment.

"I didn't really know where I was going from the beginning and I should have told you." She said quietly, her dropping a little. A silent moment passed between them, only the droning of the TV as interference.  
Naru's head snapped up eyes meeting Usagi's happily again, her voice a little more chipper now. "Let's make a promise, right now. Best friends shouldn't keep secrets from each other. Let's promise that we'll never keep secrets from each other, from now until death."

She extended her pinkie to Usagi, the Pinkie Promise, the most sacred of all childhood bondages. Time seemed to halt as that voice screamed at her all over again.  
Usagi . . . you can't keep that promise! There will be things you can't tell Naru! Why? She's my best friend, I can and will tell her everything  
Now, perhaps, but not forever. Usagi, you can't make this promise without KNOWING you'll have to break it . . . Leave me alone  
Usagi cringed inside, the voice nagged, pulling at her . . . she knew it was right. But she couldn't not promise . . .  
"Okay."

Pinkie locked into pinkie, the made their promises.  
"I promise that I will never keep any secrets from you, Usa-chan"  
"And I promise that I will never keep any secrets from you, Naru-chan"  
As long as you ask me to tell you. If you don't ask, I many not tell you everything, just parts  
Good save, but she can't hear that admission. Yet hidden behind the folds of her sleeping bag was Usagi's other hand,  
middle finger crossed over her pointer. No promise was fully true if your fingers were crossed. She meant every word, both the ones she said aloud and in her head. Together, together both parts made the oath she would never break. If Naru asked, she would tell, if not . . . then her friend may never know.

She smiled, putting aside the little garden shovel, sitting in the park, the same place where they had sat the night before. It was very early, but Usagi needed to do this. She checked the hole in the ground, the box she had just fitting it. She closed the soil over the box without another thought. This was for Naru-chan. She may not have been able to keep her verbal promise, but she would keep her oath. For in that box was a slip of thin rice paper, containing her oath in her neatest handwriting. She would keep it, she had to, in order to make up for her lie. Hopefully, that nagging feeling would be wrong but . . .

She stood up. It was impossible to believe there had been a hole there two minutes ago. No one would know her oath was there but her. Her own little ritual, as sacred as a Pinkie Promise. She had no way of knowing the many times she would dig up that box to add another slip of paper with yet another oath written upon it over the coming years. And yet she'd keep every single one. True to her oath, her heart's words.

She turned from the spot and began walking home, unaware of the light sounds carried on the air, only the soft, touching tune of Destiny that played in her heart. A tune she'd heard before so very long ago and would someday hear again.

--- 


	3. Earth

The Early Moon Chronicles By Michaela Wills

Story 2 - 'Collision of Fate'  
or 'A Younger Tuxedo Kamen'

He reached out towards the indistinct figure. It hovered at the far corners of his mind teasing and taunting his consciousness. Grappling towards the wisp of hope before him, Mamoru felt himself slipping away,  
slipping from the memories. He struggled to escape his growing awareness of the real world, he was so close, maybe this time, just maybe.

Closing his eyes tightly he reached for the shadow again, hoping, wishing, praying for it to come to him. He tore through the fabrics that separated him from his past, hoping each one before him was the last. Probing his unconscious mind was the closest he'd come to a memory. Just one. If he could just find those locked away thoughts he'd have something to hold onto, remembering what he had in this life.

"Mamoru-chan, it's time to wake up." A voice called to him gently. He pushed it away in his mind. No! She wouldn't do this to him again, he was so close! Just a few more of these cobwebs and he might have a memory, he could only hope . . .

"Mamoru-chan . . . wake up dear." Mamoru felt himself being pulled away again, away from his past as the sheets of tissue that hid his past fell before him again. NO! NO! NO! So close! It was all so close! "Wake up dear."

The images of his subconscious slipped away as pure while light invaded his world. He opened his eyes, looking up to the social worker standing over him.

"Mamoru-chan." She smiled warmly, it was comforting, but he could sense pity in her eyes. And that of all things was one he surely didn't want to have. "Get dressed, dear, today is the day. Your suit is all laid out." She patted his ruffled, ebony hair before leaving the plain room.

Mamoru sat up, shaking his head of his dreams. They were odd dreams, yet he knew that they were more, probably the closest connection to his past left. Usually they were set inside his head, with a spark of hope, of memory before him like a prize he could never reach. There had been a few oddball dreams though.

His own philosophy on the others was his amnesia had uncovered a tiny section of his brain's inactive region (supposedly humans only use a tiny portion of their brains, but who knew where Mamoru had learned, let alone why he remembered that!) which he had become aware of in his subconsciousness. A few 'memories' of himself at some point, he was almost positive it wasn't this lifetime, had become apparent in his dreams. It had changed his religious beliefs drastically, as he was sure he'd been raised Christian, and Christians didn't believe in reincarnation as more Eastern religions did.

Once he was awake, these 'memories' became fairly elusive again, but he was slowly getting a little more to his conscious each time he dreamt of them. Yet the only thing that he was sure of even then was he sat in a rose garden with some other young children. That was it.

He stood up and began to dress. These dreams confused him so much, it was like they purposely were toying with him. He wanted the memories that he'd lost only a few weeks earlier, not the ones from another lifetime. He wanted relief from this aggravation, release from the questions that plagued him. And all he got was dreams.

It scared him, and the other children. They didn't want to play with this lonely, confused little boy who knew nothing to share with them. It tore through him like a knife, the rejection. These hospital invalids would heal and leave, go home to family and friends. Leaving him alone again, unhealed, unloved.

Fully dressed, Mamoru went to the small dresser in the room and began to comb his hair. Studying his reflection carefully he finished pulling the comb through his ebony tangles. He placed the comb back onto the hardwood in the same place he'd picked it up, allowing his now-free hand to graze the bruise beneath his left eye. The mark was the only physical reminder of the events that left him here. Soon only the emotional pain and confusion would be his companion from the accident.

Sighing, he quickly walked out of the room, attempting to leave behind his turmoil.

It hadn't worked. The turmoil and confusion had followed him to the funeral of his parents. He stared at the two coffins before him, closing his eyes, trying to recall what his parents looked like.

He couldn't.

He felt horrible. He couldn't even recall the simplest memory of his past; of his parents. Nothing. Seven years of his life were lost in the recesses of his mind, his parents with them.

Mamoru allowed his gaze to drop from the covered coffins that held his mother and father. Closing his eyes, he thought of those words. Mother and father. The words meant nothing to him. He knew that they should, that he should be bawling right about now over the loss of these two people who brought him into the world. That memories of love and kindness should be sending him into endless tears over the loss. But he couldn't cry for them. He wanted to, he felt he should, but he couldn't.

He had long ago ceased listening to the pastor, but somehow he knew that the man had stopped. He looked up, tears in his eyes. Not for his parents, but for the loss of everything he should remember. He couldn't decide if fate was being kind to him, by relieving him of memories of life with these people, or cruel, by taking away everything he'd ever known.

A tear slipped down his cheek in sorrow of it all. it was too much for him to handle. He knew he should be really crying for these people, but he couldn't. He didn't remember them! They meant nothing to him! His tears were for his own loss, which made him feel selfish. He should be crying for the silenced lives in those boxes, not himself.

He couldn't help it.

Suddenly he felt the social worker nudging his shoulder gently. He looked up to her with his tear stained eyes.

"Go ahead dear." She spoke softly, warmly, her voice thick with caring. Mamoru nodded slightly, clutching the two white, roses in his hand tighter.

A thought came to him, white. It symbolized innocence. He nearly laughed at the thought, the white flowers in his hand, he was not innocent. Pain and loss were too strong to allow him his innocence to hold onto. The world was full of too many damn realities. His thoughts halted.

He found himself standing beside the first of the coffins, unsure of how he'd gotten there. It no longer mattered. He swallowed hard separating the two roses from each other, holding one in each hand.

Slowly and uncertainly, Mamoru guided his hand to hover above the center of the coffin. He felt eerie all over. Careful not to let his hand brush the coffin's smooth cover, for fear of what would occur, he dropped the first of the roses to the coffin's lid.

Walking slowly to the other ominous box, Mamoru rubbed his wet eyes with the back of his free hand. Still clearing his vision, he dropped the second rose to its place atop the coffin.

Looking down at the soft grass beneath him, Mamoru walked away from the coffins.

He tipped up his head again, pressing on his elbows for support as he leaned back. Mamoru gazed at the sky. The funeral was long since over and in a sense, he was glad. Maybe now he could put the haunted feeling of loss behind him and look to the future. Stop searching for his past.

In two days he was to be sent to an orphanage in the Juuban District. Perhaps something would turn up for him there.

He kicked his slippers over the edge of the roof and onto the balcony of his little room. Forgetting his contemplation, Mamoru turned his attentions to the sky. there were only a few stars out, the strongest in the nearby systems. The reflection of light off the crescent moon blocked out most stars on this clear night.

It was a comfort to him. The crescent gave the appearance of a warm and reassuring smile, telling him that everything was to be okay. He hoped it was true. He looked at the patterns the glimmering points of light made in the sky. Idly he wished that his friend was here to point out the different constellations to him.

Mamoru sat bolt upright in shock. Friend! As quickly as the thought, the recollection had come, it evaporated, leaving the boy with more questions. Grumbling to himself of his luck, he laid down again, pillowing his head with his arms behind his head.

And then he laid there, listening to the wind rustle the trees. Closing his eyes, he listened to the nature around him. He sat up again, blinking in surprise. He'd heard music. Not just any music, but the kind that came from a little musicbox. Slowly, he began to hum the tune, it sounded so familiar, like from a dream. It was comforting, like the crescent moon. Giving him the will to live on that he'd almost lost.

Climbing back to his balcony and into his room, he continued his humming, the melody becoming stronger in his mind as he went. He smiled in spite of everything. The music, and the moon, gave him an overwhelming feeling of hope. He crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin, still humming. If it was the last thing he did, he would make sure never to forget this tune. It meant something, although he knew not what.

Slowly his voice faded off, the melody slowing and drifting into the atmosphere. Yet it continued to play in his heart even if the tinkering notes no longer hung in the air.

And Mamoru feeling into the first dreamless, peaceful sleep he'd had in a long time.

--- 


	4. Mercury

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 3 - 'Blood and Water'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Mercury'

Ami stood on the box, tense and ready, her mind and body prepared for the inevitable sound that would spark motion and strength into her. The sound that would set off a chain reaction, making her either victorious or just like the rest.

Beeeeep!

There it was! Ami dove off her platform with perfect technique, hitting the water at just the right angle. Adrenaline sped through her veins, pushing her to accelerate through the liquid that smoothed over her body effortlessly. She loved the feel of it gliding over her skin, the way it felt slipping through her fingers as she edged through it, forcing it to part for her.

Head surfaced and taking a deep breath, Ami began to stroke and kick, propelling herself forward. The constant splashing on her legs, the steady strokes felt perfectly tuned with the water and her body. Everything simply fell together when she swam. It all made sense.

Stroke, stroke, stroke-breath. Stroke, stroke, stroke-breath. It all was practiced and perfect. The wall came up nearly to fast. It signaled the end. Or truthfully, the halfway mark, but the middle of anything was the real beginning of the end. It was something that Ami had come to understand a long time ago.

With a perfectly executed flip turn, Ami headed back the way she came. She could feel the splashing of her competitors coming behind her giving her a sensation of triumph. The water was one of the few places that Ami felt powerful. The only other time she felt like this was when learning. Books were her friends. But swimming was more important. Books were an excitement, but in the pool, in a race: Everything was different. She was in her element, she knew that this was where she belonged.

She looked around her fleetingly, even well in the lead she knew that it could cost her to glance around for very long. She spotted her mother's dark hair in the crowd, standing out as it always did. It suddenly occurred to her that the swimmer on the end lane was doing very well also, only about a stroke behind Ami. It was all the motivation for her to work harder. Stroke, stroke, stroke-breath. Stroke, stroke, stroke-breath. The succession became increasingly quicker. She was aware of the closeness of her threat.

She could hear her swim-team members screaming at her, encouraging her.  
But this was not what pushed her. She couldn't lose this element, this strength. If she was to lose, her confidence would be taken away. Everyone on the team told her she was the best, that she would break that one minute mark this time. She couldn't fail them. Or herself. There was a well known trainer in the audience and if Ami placed well, she might be offered a chance to train with the coach. She pushed forth her best effort, not hesitating in the least. Her form and strokes perfect, strong and steady. Everything that the trainer would look for she had.

Slam! Her wrist hit the wall-timer board HARD. She hadn't even seen it coming. Holding onto the edge of the pool, Ami breathed deeply. She pulled off her goggles, relaxing for a moment, but at the same time looking frantically for the scoreboard, fearing the results. They didn't come up.

That was odd . . . usually the marks came up as soon as the race was finished, no stall what-so-ever. Something must be wrong. Slowly her eyes scanned the room, trying to figure out what had happened. Worried,  
she realized there was a crowd of coaches around a swimmer at the other pool. The swimmer was lying down, and the coaches were moving quickly, trying to do something. Another swimmer from her team ran over and said something to one of the coaches.

Nervously, Ami climbed out of the pool and walked quickly over to the gathering. By this point, there was a crowd around the swimmer and Ami couldn't see. Looking into the pool, she saw the traces of blood mixing with the water which made Ami feel sickened. Fear clutched tightly at the soft girl's heart, total helpless fear. The teammate from before began to run by, but Ami caught his shoulder.

"Himo-san, what happened . . . who . . .?" She began, unable to make herself clear.

"It's Kinoa-chan! She wasin the backstroke, she countedherstrokes wrong and hitherhead on the edge. She was undertheboard. You know theboard isbroken and it cracked. She was rightunder it'nd it fellinthe pool on her." He blurted out in spurts of broken language. "The coaches gotherout, buthey can't help her, she's notawake. Called the hospital and they're sendingsomeoneover, but it may takeawhile since it's in Juuban." He pulled free and began to run. "I'm gonnawait outside for the ambulance!" He called over his shoulder

Ami stood there stunned. Kinoa was nearly her only friend on the team, Probably one of her only friends in general as most didn't bother with the quiet girl. Kinoa was her best friend. Kinoa was also her best competition. And she was hurt. If an ambulance didn't come, then it might get worse. She may not wake up, or be really, really hurt. She may not ever swim again. She began to shake from the shock and cold. If only they could get a doctor here faster, Juuban was pretty far from this small swimming arena. . . . Suddenly, she saw her mother's dark hair flash by.

Ami whipped around, watching her mother struggle through the crowd of people. After a moment, they ceded to her, allowing her to pass. It was then that Ami remembered her mother's occupation. Her mom WAS a doctor!

She followed the path that lay open, pulling off her swim cap as she walked. Her long blue hair fell past her shoulders softly, concealing the worry on her face from the spectators. She stood behind her mother as Dr. Mizuno worked over her friend.

The moments passed, the air heavy with tense anticipation. Ami watched her mother, praying silently for her friend and her mother's skills. She felt idle and helpless, standing and watching her friend suffer. She hated feeling helpless, she decided it then. Absolutely hated it. She knelt beside Kinoa and picked up her hand, holding it gingerly as not to hurt the still figure.

Her mother looked to her briefly catching her eyes. Dr. Mizuno's mouth was drawn in a tight, stiff line across her face. Her eyes were tense as her body was rigid. The years of ER training were taking over as Ami saw her mother in a way she never had before.

She continued to work over Kinoa, barely paying any mind to the multitudes around her. Ami didn't know half of the things her mother was doing, but if it was helping Kinoa, she didn't care. It pained her to sit there and wait, despite the confidence she had in Dr. Mizuno's abilities. More than anything, Ami just wanted her friend to be alright, yet she knew she'd be more at ease if she could be doing something to help.

"I think she'll be okay, I just need to get her to a hospital. And on a respirator. Now." Dr. Mizuno said suddenly snapping Ami out of her worry, relief washing over them both.

It was then that sound erupted back into the arena. Paramedics flew past Ami, led by Himo-san. The coaches and Ami's mom gathered their things together quickly.

"I'll be back soon, Ami-chan, have a coach take you home, I'll be there soon, dear." Her mother called to her, hurrying after the stretcher with her patient on it. Ami closed her eyes in prayer and thanks for a moment, before feeling a tap on her shoulder.

"Miss Mizuno? I would like to congratulate you on a wonderful job, and my regrets over your teammate." It was the trainer, the one that Ami so longed to work with. She looked up to the scoreboard, her name posted on the top in electric lights as she always liked to see. She looked down to where Kinoa had been, the cement stained in blood. Her mind momentarily torn between the prospects of two worlds.

She had seen something in the worn, but successful face of her mother that afternoon. A beacon of light, of devotion and honor. That pained look Dr. Mizuno had shot her daughter, the battle-harden stare of the ER expert had struck a chord in the gangly girl's heart. Her admiration shifted, her mother become greater in the eyes of one she loved most. She was giving Kinoa a gift that Ami had wanted to give herself. Hope. A new possibility now came into Ami's view.

"I watched your race and you were very good, I would like to have a word with your parents about training you in the future. You have a very good potential, my dear." The trainer smiled warmly, which Ami reciprocated gladly.

"I . . . I . . . I don't know what to say." She said nervously, "I love swimming, I really do. But I don't think I want to become a swimmer anymore. I still love swimming, it's just . . ." She said, her voice wavered as she tried to make the multitudes of thoughts clear. Her eyes shone helplessly as she looked up at the man. "My mom, she saved Kinoa-chan. She . . . she's my best friend. I . . . I think I would like to be able to do what she does. Help people who are hurt. I just felt so helpless and I wanted to help. A doctor can help in ways a swimmer can't." She whispered, unsure of what she was trying to say herself. The coach chuckled, kneeling down to her level.

"Training to be a swimmer is hard work. It takes alot of time and patience to be a swimmer. But I have seen many swimmers who do other things too. You don't need to give up being a doctor to be a swimmer too. It's more of a challenge to do both, but I have no doubt that you could do it." He said placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him in surprise. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of that! Her eyes shone. Sooner or later she would have to choose between her love and her new empowerment, but that time was not now.

"Thank you! Then I'd love to! To train under you that is." She smiled.

Turning slightly, she gazed out the doors at the rushing paramedics, already knowing in the deepest part of her heart which dream was to be let go.

--- 


	5. Venus

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 4 - 'Hero in a Sailor Suit'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Venus'

The seven year old gave a loud battle cry just before throwing herself into the cold water. The pool's contents splashed about, rocking the slim child a bit. The blond surfaced, paddling hard against the depths of the water and the currents she and her oppenents had created. She saw a hand reaching for her left foot from underneath the transparent surface. With a sharp, well-aimed and practiced kick, the child propelled herself strongly away from the hand. This game of chase enthralled her as she weaved through the crowded pool, acting causal as she carefully worked to the pool's opposite bank. Only a few realized her intentions and they were not strong enough swimmers to catch up to the now swiftly paddling figure who was about to pull herself upon the opposite bank.

With a heaving breath she pulled herself out of the water's grasp. A great smile crossed her face, broad and joyous. She gave a happy cry of vitory as she scanned the pool's edge for other survivors. There '  
were none.

"I WIN! I WIN!" She exulted to the older children glaring at the from the water. "HA! You told me I was too little, but I WON! So there!" She crossed her arms over her small chest, standing hauntingly. The movement caused the little frilled skirt on her swimsuit to wave. The suit's navy blue surface shimmered from the water soaking it. It was a nautical suit, decorated with an anchor on the front and white trim.

One of the oldest boys there pulled himself out and clapped the child's shoulder proudly.

"Yes you did Mina-chan. Congratulations. You can play with us anytime you like now, we'd love to have such a skilled player join us." She smiled broadly, unaware of the reproachful looks of the boys in the water.

"Thanks Shino-san, are we going to play again now?" she asked, looking up at the boy admiringly. He patted her head in a loving-brotherly manner, ruffling the already matted long blond hair.

"Sorry Mina-chan, we can't. The lifeguard wants to open up the diving tank for the kids who want to jump off the diving board again." He caught her disappointment quickly. "But don't worry, we'll play again later and you can join us."

Minako smiled again. She didn't mind waiting, she would find something to do in the meantime. She skipped away happily, finally accepted by those she'd tried so hard to become a part of.

Acceptance. To be part of something greater, it was her biggest dream. It was in a sense an unconscious goal, since she tried to achieve it by trying to be part of so many different things. Yet it was always there,  
a motivation that she was only slightly aware of. Yet for some reason, it always seemed to elude the small child. Her cousins didn't accept her as she was the only girl amongst them. The other children at school found her odd and over-excitable and often ignored her. And then there were the neighborhood kids.

Everyone seemed to sense something different about Minako that they didn't like or want to become aquainted with. It puzzled her beyond comprehension. But the neighborhood kids seemed to finally be seeing past whatever it was the saw. Most were older than her, but she'd finally become one of them. Shino would make sure of that. He was her friend if no one else, and that meant so much to her.

"Shino-chan!" She heard one of the other boys cry in annoyance. Mina was startled at the harshness, pressing herself against the concrete wall to listen. "Shino-chan! Why'd you tell her that?"

"Yea! Why? We don't want that little pipsqueak playing with us!" Another chimed in. Mina felt the tears welling in her eyes. They really didn't want her to play with them. Their voices were so cold, so harsh. It was such a sharp contrast to Shino-san's soft comforting voice.

"Now guys, let's be fair here. She only wants to play with us because she has no one else to. Yeah, she a little girl, and a little annoying,  
but she's better than most. She's a cute 'lil tyke, I've been to her house on holidays, remember. Our parents are tight. She's really fun if you give her a chance."

Mina's eyes shone. Shino-san was so nice! It was all true. They had spent numerous holidays in each other's company and managed to enjoy it. Well . . . that was only after she had pestered him into giving the younger child a chance. Her reverie was broken by another angry voice.

"Yeah, she's cute for a seven year old nuisance, but that doesn't mean she can play with us! Besides, you're always saying how it would be better if you could hang with us on the holidays, whether or not you're spending it with the Ainos! You can play with the little brat all you want, but that doesn't mean I'm going to!"

The others chorused their agreements, causing Mina's tears to overflow to her cheeks. Brushing them aside roughly she fled, blond hair streaming behind her. It wrapped back around the corner of the building before following her. A flag calling for attention, and attention it drew. Before Mina could get herself far enough to ease her pain, she found that her name was being called. Shaking her head roughly, she continued her flee, ignoring the protests behind her.

She didn't run too far through. Finding a strong tree, Mina deftly began to climb, anything to get her mind away from the emotional pain. She was a nice girl, talented and strong physically. The teachers at school told her so and she believed them. But why couldn't anyone else see? Why was she always pushed aside because she was a girl, or odd, or younger?

Reaching for her sleeve to wipe her eyes on, she realized that she only wore her little sailor-styled swim suit. It reminded her of the pool and the game of Shark. Her tears began anew. As they subsided, Mina turned to watch the activity of the community pool out of curiosity. The boys had all changed and were playing basketball on the nearby court. Yet wandering from the bunch was the group's 'mascot' a ferret owned by one of the boys' father. Mina loved petting that little ball of elongated fur anytime she was given the chance, although it wasn't often.

The ferret was teetering along the edge of the pool, trying to sniff it's contents. At that moment a basket was made and half of the boys erupted into wails of joy, while the other screams of despair. The commotion caused the small animal launch itself over the edge in an attempt to escape the noise. Instead of escaping the creature nose-dived into the water.

Mina didn't know if ferrets could swim, but she wasn't about to take the chance they couldn't. None of the boys had noticed the disappearance of their 'mascot', at least not until Mina streaked past them, jumping in the pool in a headlong leap.

"What the . . . "  
"What!" "Where'd she . . . "  
"Joe-kun! He's gone"  
"Mina-chan!"

The last yell was that of Shino's realizing she had ran past to save the beloved rodent. Once in the cold water, Mina paddled to the animal deftly. She carefully reached out to the perturbed creature. Finding it unresisting she swiftly encircled it with one thin arm. Maddened by her sudden action, Joe snapped at her with it's teeth, breaking the skin on her upper arm with it's grip. A short yelp of pain escaped her before she bit hard upon her lower lip to control herself.

Holding the animal firmly, but as gently as she could, Mina brought the small thing ashore, passing it to the owner's son before leaving the water herself. She put her hands on the pool's edge, dipping herself under the water to gain the momentum necessary to propel her out of the pool. Her cut stung from the chlorine and stained the water and her arm blood red as she climbed out.

Most of the boys clamored around Joe, who basked in the newfound attention. Mina nearly cried again. She had probably saved the boys their mascot and one boy in particular from a harsh punishment for killing the mammal. A hand was placed gently on her good arm.

"You're a hero, you saved Joe-kun! Thanks." Shino exclaimed, making sure that he was loud enough to attract a little attention from the other boys. They caught the hint.

"Oh"  
"Of course"  
"Mina-"

They began to exclaim. That was before Shino stopped them. The lifeguard had come over with a first aid kit, which Shino was now holding as the lifeguard headed back to her post. He knelt beside Mina,  
allowing the other boys a moment to be stunned. Mina caught a quick wink from Shino before he continued.

"Not Mina-chan! This young lady is a hero, a superhero even for getting bit. Most of us probably would have left Joe-kun in the pool after getting that." He said, pointing at the nasty bite marks on Mina's arm. "She should be treated like one. And we all know that superheros aren't called by their real names, their real names are a secret. They all go by a superhero name."

He leaned towards her, smiling at her broadly while holding a cloth in his hand. She grinned back. Touching the bites gently with antiseptic-drenched cloth he continued while she flinched at the touch's intense sting.

"What's your name, Miss Superhero in a Sailor Suit?" He asked. Mina giggled. She liked it, 'Superhero in a Sailor Suit'. But it was a little long . . . Yet she watched enough superhero cartoons to know a good start when she heard it.

"I'm Super Sailor Girl! Protector of Children and Fuzzy Animals everywhere!" She said smiling, petting the much-calmer ferret affectionately with her good arm. It nuzzled against her hand, almost as if it knew that she had saved him. She couldn't be sure, but just maybe . . .

"Thank you Super Sailor Girl"  
"Yes! Thank you Super Sailor Girl"  
"Joe-kun say thank you too"  
"Thank you!"

Shino finished bandaging her arm. She turned to him gratefully. "And thank you, Shino-san." He faked a gasp, in a dramatic voice.

"How did you know my name, Super Sailor Girl?" She laughed softly. Time for the classic superhero answer to the age-old question.

"I just know." She winked playfully before standing up. "Now all of you play safe, and keep little Joe-chan here away from the pool from now on. I don't think he really liked the water too much." She said, patting the ferret again. "So long everyone!" She cried out, head off the way she came, not stopping at the cries of:

"Thanks again"  
"Thanks Super Sailor Girl"  
"Bye Super Sailor Girl"  
"Bye!" "Come back soon!"

She stopped at the bottom of her tree. It would be her superhero lookout tree from now on, Super Sailor Girl's secret base. She hoped that Mina-chan would be called upon more often by the neighborhood boys, but it would never hurt to be ready to spring into action if her alter-ego was needed. She was accepted by the bunch. Maybe not the exact way she had wanted, but it was enough for now . . .

Looking up into the branches she saw a pure white cat. It had a mark on its forehead that she couldn't identify, it was too far up the tree. She grinned.

"Super Sailor Girl to the rescue! I'll save you little kitty! You shouldn't be up in a tree like that!" She said, wagging a finger at the cat, who blinked at her oddly. This was a very good beginning for Super Sailor Girl!

--- 


	6. Mars

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 5 - 'Premonition in Flames'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Mars'

Rei walked through the halls, annoyance evident in her stride. Samoa-san had left the Shinto Temple today, just upped and left with no words, leaving Rei to make tea on her own. She'd done it before, but after waking late, getting no warm water for her shower, fighting the wind in raking the cherry blossom leaves and having Samoa-san leave her without telling Grandfather so she would have to, Rei was in no mood or patience to make the tea. She'd struggled in the kitchen endlessly, nearly allowing some foul language to escape her, which only agrevated her further for her lack of control.

She breathed deeply trying to force the overwhelming feeling of WRONG down and away. Everything had felt WRONG lately, she couldn't put her finger on why.

Rei held the tea tray stiffly, as she stood in the doorway watching her grandfather bow before the fire alter. He sat strangely silent, looking straight into the flames without feeling what-so-ever. Rei slowly extracted herself from the doorway of the room and set the tea beside her statue-like relative with a satisfying thunk.

Turning around after a brief bow of respect, she began to leave her grandfather in peace. A hand shot out and stopped her motion. She started at the unexpected movement, for the elder had not moved another part of his body, and was not the least distracted from his praying.

They stood like so for a minute or two, the old man continuing to stare into the fire's heart. Rei held totally still with a practiced art of self-control, although on the inside she quivered with impatience and an internally flaring temper. Along with everything else and that overwhelming feeling of WRONG, Rei hated waiting. Waiting, for anything and everything made her extremely edgy. No matter what. And that feeling of WRONG, why she had that feeling, she didn't know, was slowly stoking the burning vexation. That feeling, deep within her prodded at her gut, that feeling something was happening . . .

The tension in his bones relaxed and Rei watched her grandfather fiddle into a more comfortable position.  
"Rei-chan? The fires have told me that you're ready." He said in the odd tongue that he always used. "How old are you now, my child?"

Rei held her tongue of the smart reply that just ached to come through. This round-the-mulberry-bush cryptic way of talking he used was only igniting the over flowing temper that reigned inside her all over again. She forced it down. "I'm nine now, Grandfather. You know that"  
The wrinkled man smiled.

"Ah yes! Yes, yes. Then you are indeed old enough to learn to read the fire. Do you want to learn Rei-chan? According to the Sacred Fire, you have a gift for fire reading and you should learn to use it." He said quietly, half to himself instead of the other

She stood thoughtful for the briefest instance, the irritation gone momentarily. The other priests always turned to the fires, saying special chants to look for answers whenever they had a problem. This edgy feeling that poked at her . . . Maybe she could find an answer in those great flames also.  
"Sure Grandfather, I'd like to learn."

"Alright then Rei-chan. Just sit down here next to me and cross your legs like I do. We'll begin in just a minute, okay?" She nodded her acceptance as she slipped into a sitting position identical to her relative's. He fell trance-like again for a moment as Rei thought. Her insides mixed painfully, the prodding nerves pushing at her harder, begging her to start this fire reading. It was almost as if this was why she was so tense, something wanted her to read the fire, to see what was there. What? What do you what? She screamed inside herself, her nerves responded to her internal call, to her great surprise and intrigue. A few, odd words past through her mind, like a chant used to call on the fire. Her grandfather snapped her out of her reverie.

"Very good Rei-chan. Now first you need to put some of this on the fire. It'll brighten at first, but you'll be able to read after adding it. It's mostly for your aid, soon, you'll be able to read without the powder to soften the Great Fire."

He took a little pouch out of the folds of fabric around him and placed a small amount of fine, brown powder in Rei's cupped hands. She carefully tossed it into the fire, blinking hard against the glare that currently arose from the flames.

"Now just say the chant I taught you when you first started tending the fire. Then look deep into the flames, not at the flames, but past them,  
beyond the light and into the heart of the fire. I'll do the first one with you." He calmly told her. Rei looked back to the fire from her grandfather's wrinkled face. Concentrating hard on not watching the flickering lights, but staring through them, they began.

The two started the chant, looking into the fire. But Rei was curious, instead of using the words her grandparent did, she used the chant that had crossed her mind so recently. As Grandfather chanted the easy intonation loudly, Rei began a softer version of the more complex chant, using the strange words, so unfamiliar to her, words that would someday open her destiny to her. As the words past her lips, she felt her irritation begin to subside. This was what it was . . . she had needed to do this, now she knew, she'd done the right thing.

With the final words of both chants spoken, the two fell silent to the crackling of the fire. Slowly Rei felt herself fall into a state of meditation. She never had done so before, but simply knew that she was.  
Rei saw a glimpse of herself, chasing a butterfly, remembering the day well. But the image quickly faded black, startling Rei, who acknowledged the changes only by blinking, her eyes widening at what revealed itself afterward.

The black was fought away by a swirling mass of flying fire, red color,  
white color and dark hair. It flashed to an image of a dark haired girl in a school uniform, but the uniform was too stylized to be that of a school's. She stood momentarily in a battle-ready stance. But before giving Rei a chance to study the familiar-seeming figure closely, it flickered and changed, revealing the same girl, many times, doing different things in different places, but always the same girl. The image of the dark haired warrior faded, revealing other figures that had been in some of those passing scenes with the brunette.

Cats. Blue haze, followed by a girl with short, blue hair. Orange and gold, followed by a curtain of blond and hearts. Green leaves, blowing around fiercely, a great dragon, both flung from the hands of a tall female figure. Black, darkness, preceding the arrival of a great lavender key, wielded by another indistinct figure, heaving pink and lavender spheres through space. Two figures now, one falling from the sky, the other ascending from the sea, mighty spheres of gold and aqua ringed energy appearing from both. The sharp cut of a silver weapon, followed by the fading lines of a violet clad girl. A great cape, sweeping away to reveal a dark and formally dressed man, protecting another blond girl in white. A glare of pink falling from above.

These images swirled together, creating short-lived scenes that moved so quickly, Rei couldn't even make out what was happening in them. Most of them were marked with brightness, more hurtful to the eyes than the fire's intense glaze itself. Dark images of figures came and went with the passing of brightness. It glowed fiercer with each second. As quickly as the scenes flashed they stopped. Marked by the fading lines of a woman. Tall and dignified. Lying infront of a great castle. The earth in the background.

Fading . . . fading . . . fading . . . into the fire's face. Rei could see the butterfly as she dove at it, missing it's gossamer wings as it fluttered past her. She fell to a pile of freshly raked leaves, poofing around her as she plowed into them. This image also faded, much in the same way the first had, back into the depths of the fire. As if nothing had been revealed to her at all. The crackling of the fire returned her to the world she currently knew. She blinked.

The elder sat back a bit, heaving a deep sigh. Her turned to the younger and spoke. "Well? What do you think?" He asked.

Rei wrinkled her nose, "I don't know . . . That was neat, but are there other things that I can see in the fire too? Besides the butterfly?" she asked. She knew the answer, but maybe her grandfather would reveal something that would tell her who those people were. The old man just laughed.

"My dear child, the fires reveal many things to those who can make them yield to them. You can see the past, the future, dreams, far away places and the destinies of others. Oh so many things. It all depends on the chant and your strength of mind." He touched a finger to her chest to impress his last words. "It all depends on you." He smiled. "How about we have a cup of cocoa, and tomorrow I will teach you another type of chant."

Rei grinned, "Sure!" The two got up and Rei began to leave the room with her grandfather ahead of her. At the door she turned back to the crackling fire. Was it the future she saw? Or maybe it was a dream, Grandfather had said that you could see dreams in the fires too. It all depended on her. She stood there, wondering with childish curiosity for a few more moments, all the irritation from before having vanished. Her bottled temper had vanished. She felt normal again.

"Rei-chan! Are you coming dear?" She heard from down the hall. Internally dismissing her fire visions, Rei called back.

"I'm coming Grandfather!"

--- 


	7. Jupiter

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 6 - 'Reasons for Roses'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Jupiter'

The door swung shut with a heavy thump. Makoto could hear her own heavy foot falls resonating on the floor. She pulled herself into a large armchair and sunk into it deeply. The skirt of the pink sundress she wore slid over her knees, revealing her slim legs, toned from her constant running and exercise. She curled up in the warm leather, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. She rubbed her bruised and dirty knees, trying to ease the pain from the scrapes on them.

"Is that you Mako-chan?" a sweet voice called from the kitchen. Turning a little uncomfortably, Mako answered.

"Yes Mama." she called, her voice heavy and depressive for a five year old. Her mother entered. Mako looked an awful lot like her mother.  
Her own hair matched her mother's wavy, bobbed locks. Her slender frame and wide shoulders were the same as her mother's also. She knelt beside the armchair, her own dark brown eyes meeting her daughter's green ones. An outstanding feature of her father's influence on her, identical to her wild and protective nature

"What happened Mako-chan?" She said softly, touching the bruises and scrapes on Mako's knee gently. Her eyes welled with tears, betraying her words.

"Nothing, I just fell."

"Are you sure that you were rough-housing with those older boys again?" She asked, brushing the wisps of brown hair that strayed from her ponytail away from the child's face. Tears slid down her cheeks and into the open as the truth did also.

"They were picking on another girl," She said, thinking of the little blond again. The timid girl had been playing in the park, chasing a large red ball when the boys took it from her. They teased her about her clothes and her hair, two pigtails drawn up in an odd bun fashion with the ends hanging into loose pigtails. Mako had thought it very unkind of these boys and had gone to make sure they knew she felt so. It was a justifiable reason to fight.

"And she was scared of them. I told them to leave her alone and they started teasing me. I . . . I . . . I told them to stop, but they wouldn't, so I kicked one in the shins. Then they pushed me down and yelled." She sniffled. "They said I wasn't a real girl, Mama. They said that I was to much of a boy and asked why I even tried wearing a dress.  
I'm too much of a b-b-b-boy!" The trickling tears became a wail of emotional pain as Mako was picked up.

Mrs. Kino held her tightly, taking her to the kitchen and cleaning her bruises and cuts, murmuring soothing words softly. And that is where they stayed. After Mrs. Kino finished cleaning Mako she resumed cutting vegetables for dinner, giving the young girl who sat beside the cutting board pieces of carrots, parsnips and mushrooms. Mako had quieted and contentedly ate the offered slices, eating them slowly.

She thought about those mean boys and the little girl. For some reason,  
she had never been able to stand watching the sufferings of another person. It was trait she didn't understand. It didn't matter if she knew the person or not, there was simply something that compelled her to aid a person in need. Even if it meant she would be hurt instead. Physical pain meant little to her, having found more ways to bruise herself on her own than the boys could contrive. It was only the insult of them saying she was too much of a boy that hurt. She knew she was a tomboy and didn't mind that, but everyone knew that tomboys were girls so it didn't matter. There was a difference between being called a boy and a tomboy. A realization along with many others that made little Mako wise beyond her years

"Do you feel any better?" Her mother asked. Mako looked up from her current handful of parsnips. Her eyes were dry, she had decided that she no longer cared what those boys thought and next time they tried to hurt her they would get more than they bargained for.

"Yes, Mama." She smiled and Mako smiled in return.

"I have an idea, how would you like to get your ears pierced? Maybe it would help you to forget what those mean boys told you. Not many little boys get pierced ears." she said with a conspiring smile that Mako loved to see. It was like a secret. Mako's eyes twinkled in delight. Pierced ears!

"Really Mama? I'd love to have earrings!" She cried, reaching out to the diamond studs that accentuated her mother's ears.

"Alright then, let's go." She responded, lifting Mako off the counter and setting her gently onto the floor. Taking off her apron, Mako gaped. "We can do it right now, and when we come home you can help me finish dinner, how about that?"

Mako hopped up and down excitedly, more at the offer to help her mom cook than to have her ears pierced at the moment. She loved to help her mother cook, it was so much fun. She had been helping her mother in the kitchen since she'd been large enough to sit on the counter and measure the ingredients. It was a special bond between the two that not even her father could invade.

Upon reaching the jewelry store, Mako let go of her mother's hand, running to the cases joyously. She stopped infront of them, looking into the glass entranced at the stones inside. Paying special attention to the earrings she gazed at the contents of a few different cases while her mother spoke to the lady at the counter.

It was then that she saw them. The pair of earrings weren't as glittering or ostentatious as most others, but still very pretty. It was a pair of stud roses, one for each ear in a redish-pink color. She stared at them in awe for some reasons. The roses called to her. There was something about roses . . . something that reminded her of her dreams . . . those thoughts that were just barely out of reach when she awoke . . . something of a castle . . . something white with gold . . .  
something green . . . something very special and very important . . . Her mother came to stand behind her.

"Is that the pair you want?" Mako turned around stunned.

"I get to pick!" She asked incredulously. Her mother laughed softly at her surprise.

"They are your ears. You have to wear them, of course you get to choose which pair." She answered as the little girl hugged her around the knees.

"Ohh yes! That's the pair I want!" Moments later the roses were clicked into her ears by the little gun. The woman had said it may hurt, but Mako barely thought of the slight stinging as hurt. There were many worse kinds of pain, like a cut for instance. She touched her ear gingerly to see if the would stay there, rubbing her fingertips over the textured surface of the studs.

Looking into the mirror before her, Mako grinned widely. They felt wonderful and she liked the way they looked. They just looked right. Her mother clasped her shoulder gazing into the mirror along with the smaller brunette.

"Do you like them?" She asked the smiling child.

"I love them." Mako whispered. She turned from the mirror, gazing up at her mother. "Thank you so much." She cried, throwing her arms around her loving mother's neck.

"You're welcome dear!" She answered, "Are you ready to go and help me finish dinner?" Mrs. Kino asked. Mako hopped from the chair, eyes all aglow. There were no traces of the sullen child who had come home earlier.

"Yes! Let's go Mama!" She said exuberantly, nearly dragging her mother out of the store. "Oh Mama, I was wondering . . . could I take some lessons in karate, Mama? Please?"

--- 


	8. Saturn

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 7 - 'Night of the Firefly'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Saturn'

She gazed around at the cruel faces, the bitterness, the distaste in shock and horror. Did they really hate her so? She didn't remember the evils they spoke of, she didn't do them. Maybe some other part of her controlled her, forced her to be evil to them, but that was a different Tomoe Hotaru than the one standing there now. Couldn't they see it wasn't her, that this girl was different than the one yesterday? Couldn't they see how much they hurt her, saying those mean things to her? To someone who honestly hadn't done anything?

They could. Which is why they did so.

Time held still, the hatred in their eyes burning through her, engraved in her mind forever. She could never forget the things they said and did to her, it didn't seem right. The boy's injury was mortal, if they let her touch him, maybe she could heal it. But her injury was deeper in her soul. Her innocence and love stripped away painfully, they were destroying her, the good side of Tomoe Hotaru. They attacked the wrong her. Tears having long welled in her eyes, Hotaru did the only thing she could.

She ran.

The unshed tears blocked her vision as she ran, trying desperately to ignore the jeers and taunts being thrown at her retreating form. She brushed her eyes harshly, making things clearer as she ran. She didn't care where, she just needed to get away. To find solace from these people who hurt her.

She ran farther and longer than she'd thought possible, never stopping as she gasped for breath. It didn't matter, no one would care if she pushed herself beyond her limits. No one cared enough to stop her. So she pushed her limits, whether unconsciously or not. She strained those barriers with all her might, the physical ones that would free her of this life.

She finally collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, crying heavily in great breathy sobs that hindered her lungs as much as her running had. Was death worth it? Death was something she didn't fear, but why die if there was a reason to live? Did she have something that would keep her here? Friends?

She had none.

Family?

Her mother was gone already and her father? The professor loved her, she knew it was true, he was her father, after all, but . . . but he was never there. Always busy, never listening to her or her needs. He was there for her rarely, but not enough. He hadn't been there when she really needed him, like with those mean children. The ones who'd torn apart her soul for something she honestly was unaware of. Whatever had happened, it was caused by another Hotaru, not the one they'd hurt! Had her father been there then? No. He was never there, not anymore, there was a time that he was, but all he cared for now was his experiments. Not her and he was her only family.

A future?

Probably not. She'd be shunned and outcasted for being her forever. It was not something she could help. If she, Tomoe Hotaru, had really hurt that boy, how could anyone give her a chance to be anyone else? They'd shown her that. She'd not have a chance for redemption in their eyes.

So what did she have?

Hotaru pondered this, what did she have? There had to be something left for her, she was really too young to have nothing. She had to have something, but what? Did she examine her family wrong or her future, did she have one of those left?

She saw a blink of yellow light. Focusing on what was around her, the small girl found herself in a vast park in the early evening darkness. Her sobbing began to taper off as she stared at the place where the blink came from and the tiny light winked at her again. A firefly.

It was alone, like her, there were no others around at all. A tiny speck in the vastness of that park. She was breathing deeply, still recuperating from her running. She clutched the grass in her hands as an anchor for her breathlessness. She wanted to watch the firefly, but couldn't. She had to close her eyes and catch her breath.

In and out, in and out. One shaky, slow breath after another. Slowly, Hotaru loosened her death grip on the blades of crisp grass, wrapping her arms around her shoulders as she regained her breath. She looked up from her labors to see the park again. The little firefly winking at her in the darkness still. Her violet eyes widened in surprise. She'd expected to be alone again once catching her breath, the little lightning bug to have fluttered away, unaware of her plight. Yet it hung in the air around her. A tiny beacon of light in the bleakness of the moonless, starless, cloudy night.

Hotaru tilted her head to the side a little, catching the bug in her cupped hand, holding it carefully so not to hurt it. It glowed at her as it rested in her hands, making her pale skin glitter warm hues for a moment in time.

"Are you alone? Where are all the other little fireflies?" she asked the creature in a hushed whisper. It blinked in response, causing her to release a tiny hint of laughter. She quickly grew somber again.

"I'm alone too." The firefly blinked again. She smiled a genuine smile at the little lightning bug. They stayed that way, the girl and the bug, until she noticed the wind pulling at her hair, cooling her from her exhaustion.

She closed her violet eyes again, tipping her chin up and taking in the sensation of the breeze. The firefly seemed to notice too, taking leave from her hand and playing in the passing wind. She watched the blinking light in near fascination as it twirled through the air, circling her head. Smiling, Hotaru reached for it, but it flew away from her grasp.

Hotaru cocked her head to the side again, standing up and following the tiny burst of light as it flew. It weaved through the trees, beckoning Hotaru to follow it at it flew. Curiosity ebbed through her. Did the little bug understand her loneliness? Shrugging in submission, Hotaru following the firefly through the twisted paths of the park without further resignation.

The firefly finally alighted a low hedge, pausing for just a moment before flying over it in a burst of light. Hotaru studied the barricade before her. it wasn't quite a hedge, more like a series of very close chest-high bushes that continued in both directions. Carefully Hotaru pushed through one of the larger separations, gaining a number a scratches in the process. Pausing for a moment on the other side of the hedge line, she knelt down and healed a few of the larger scratches. She stood up to see one of the most beautiful sights of nature.

She stood in a small clearing, surrounded on all sides by brush and trees, moonlight streaming through a hole in the cloud cover made by the passing breezes. Yet the most spectacular thing was the hundreds of thousands of fireflies that danced around the clearing, her own little one blending with the others. They sparkled in the suddenly appearing moonlight like diamonds, floating through the branches of the trees and mingling in the breeze. She turned in a circle, dancing pulses of light surrounding her, enveloping her in the sight.

A small sound of awe and appreciation escaped her as she sank to the grass, watching the waltzing fireflies. Her own little one lost in the multitudes. Cupping her hands around a nearby one, she got the strange sensation that it was the same little bug that had lead her to the clearing.

"I see," she whispered, "I only thought that you were alone, but you really have alot of little friends here. All you had to do was go and find them."

She thought about her words. 'All you had to do was go and find them.'

Would that be true for her too? Were there people out there who would care for her as her father, but take the time to share it with her? Was there really a chance for her? Was there really hope for the small, dark haired, physically weak Tomoe Hotaru?

Looking at the firefly as it left her hand, she smiled. Yes, there were people out there. All she had to do was believe and hope. She did have a future, one always have a future, they just had to find it! She just had to find the people who would allow her to have a good one. She would wait, and she would look. She vowed silently, to never give up on those people, whoever they might be, who would be there someday. She would be there for them and help them, as they would someday help her.

Standing up and letting the firefly go, Hotaru brushed off her skirt to leave. Making her way back to the space in the hedgerow she examined the multitudes of light dashes around her. Turning her back to the hedge for a moment, hands clasped before her chest, she smiled at the natural beauty that she would never let herself forget. As she'd not forget the promises she'd made there.

"Thank you, little firefly. Thank you so much." She smiled as she spoke, seeing the hope in those tiny glimmers of yellow. Passing through the bush and into the vastness of the park beyond. She looked up at the moon, once again being covered by the heavy blanket of clouds. As if to tell her this was their secret. The moon, the firefly's and Hotaru's. A smile, mixed in happiness and understanding played across her lips as she began to skip home.

The smile on her mouth and hope in her heart again.

And her little firefly flew higher in the sky, passing by the clouds as it looked for a leaf in the tree canopy to rest upon. Sitting on a leaf, it watched the dark little figure passing through the darkness. Transcending pain, loneliness and destruction.  
"Sweet dreams little girl, never forget what I've shown you. You're not alone." it whispered into the wind.

--- 


	9. Uranus

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 8 - 'Something in the Wind'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Uranus'

Haruka wandered around the halls of the new school. It was not the first time she had been "The new girl" but she knew it wouldn't be the last. Her parents were constantly in motion, they could never get enough excitement if they stayed in one place too long. For years, Haruka had been "The new girl" as her parents trucked her around the world to appease their own selfish impulses. But they were in Rome now,  
and Haruka in Japan.

Haruka was very proud of herself, finally gaining the nerve to tell her father she didn't want to move anymore, that she wanted to go to a private boarding school until high school. She had been very surprised by his positive reaction. He had always been hard on his only child, attempting to make her strong, but only stifling her individuality and inner strength. Usually, he told his only child to "Keep a stiff upper lip." or "Bite that flapping tongue!" It was very hard to get her voice heard, as it seemed to be lost in the air between her and her parents. They just never heard her or understood what she was asking. It was very frustrating and for a long time Haruka had stopped trying to make them understand. She was so proud of this success and she was already steeling herself for her next move. What she wanted to do was stop playing the piano.

Haruka turned and walked toward the music room, looking at the map in her hands every now and again, thinking about the piano. She had been playing ever since she could remember and even before that. Her mother had wanted her to at least be an "accomplished young lady" which encompassed the instrumental field. Thus she was taught the piano dutifully by her talented mother. It was simple enough since she had known it all her life. Her fingers would fly over the keys, bringing her momentary joy . . . or at least it did last year, but it no longer did. She just felt dead inside playing lately, there was no thrill, no enjoyment, just the mindless pressing of keys in succession. She only did it because her parents wouldn't hear of doing otherwise.

She looked up to the door of the music room, the name embossed above the door in white characters. Sighing, she pushed open the door and looked around at the pre-rehearsal chaos. The energy in the room thrilled her as she watched one girl running down an isle, jumping the corner of a chair and heading to a smaller room where some instruments were visible. The wind caused by girl's speed tousled Haruka's hair, stirring long-hidden emotions inside of her. Maybe that's it, she thought, carefully fighting her way to the piano in the corner. Maybe I want to be UN-lady-like.

Finally reaching the piano, Haruka put the music folders she had been protecting on the stand and straightened her school uniform pants. She was tall for her age, not very surprisingly. But what had surprised her was the lack of school uniforms available in her size. She had then suggested they just give her the male uniform: she must wear something appropriate to school and she had no problem with it. It was only a uniform she had pointed out practically. She'd been happy they listened to her and gave her the green, brown and gold uniform. Haruka then put her school jacket on carelessly, unconsciously hiding the length of braided hair her mother insisted on her keeping, even if she wore the boys' uniform.  
She sat down and watched the chaos, motionless herself from years of strict practice. Hoping that the waiting would end soon, she eyed the teacher carefully.

The teacher had finally maintained an amount of attention in the room.  
"Class, class! We have finally found a student to accompany us on the piano. This is Tenoh Haruka, who just moved here from London. Tenoh, would you like to greet the class?"

She sighed inwardly, this wasn't a request, so she stood up.  
"Hello everyone, I'm Tenoh Haruka. I just moved back here from London, I was born here in Japan, but my family has moved all over the world. I like playing field hockey and the piano." With her part of the formalities finished, she sat back down and allowed her mind to wander.  
Field hockey was the only sport that her parents let her play, and she was pretty good too. It was so freeing to play it. She could feel the wind stirring when she did, whipping through her hair. It almost felt like she had a natural instinct for the game. Almost, there was still something more, something better, something she still had to find that would be the real freedom of her life. She didn't know what instilled this desire to look for something better, she just instinctively knew there was more. Her attention was drawn back to the room, when the teacher recognized a student from the back corner.

"Yes Henru-chan?" He said, the boy spoke up.

"Yeah, new kids' gonna play wit' us, but can 'e play!" The boy asked sneeringly. Haruka's face flushed, not with shame but with anger, of course she could play! The teacher was just about to answer back when he was interrupted.

Haruka had lifted the lid on the piano silently and begun to play a very fast and complex piece by Chopin, stunning the room full of students with her ability. Her fingers flew over the keys, a thrill shot through her, not from the playing but from the challenge that she had beaten. The boy had challenged her ability, and she had stood up to it. Finishing the piece with a flourish, she cut off and threw an arrogant look to the challenger who only stared in response. It occured to her now that this boy must play himself and thought his playing better than hers. Her look became slightly more haughty as she realized he knew she was superior to him. She tossed her head back defiantly, knowing the boy must be seething inside. Haruka smiled triumphantly.

After school, Haruka began to walk to the dorm room where she was staying when she was cornered by a larger boy. "Henru-chan! is this the one?" He called to a friend. The boy from the music room came over, followed by two more boys. He smiled menacingly. Haruka tipped her chin up to show that his attitude wouldn't intimidate her.

"Yeah, this is the little snob that made a fool a' me in music class! And now, you're gonna pay!" He cracked his knuckles and his friends began to close in on her. Her heartbeat began to race and her adrenaline surged forward. She managed to avoid the first attack, and quickly returned the jab, hitting her opponent in the jaw. She felt a gust of breezy wind toying with the collar of her jacket. Henru backed off momentarily, but the larger boy attacked her, throwing Haruka to the ground, she rolled out of the way as he moved to attack her from his offensive position. Something about the air around her seemed familiar.

She stood up, realizing there was some natural instinct in her for this,  
something she had never felt before in her sheltered life. She and the larger boy circled a little, the wind brushing past them, pulling at Haruka's hair. She clumsily knocked him away when he threw a badly timed punch at her. The feelings, the air of the battleground felt natural enough, but she realized that this was all. It simply felt familiar. It wouldn't be enough to save her here. One of the other boys caught her from behind and held her while Henru took out his wrath. She refused to scream as he bloodied her nose, preferring to glare at him solidly. The boy finally let go of her and she whirled on him, punching him in the nose also.

The wind pulled at her small frame fiercely, finally freeing her braid from the jacket's hold. It danced in the wind momentarily. One of the other boys kicked her feet from under her and they began to kick her as she curled against their attacks.

"STOP!" Someone cried out, Haruka was now kneeling against a wall, her arms wrapped around her defensively. She didn't bother to look up, but she knew it wasn't a teacher. "Do you guys have any manners at all? What's wrong with you! Can't you see you were beating on a girl?" The female yelled. As her gender was stated clearly, Haruka felt everyone take a step back. She then felt the approach of one of the boys. She glared up at him, through her bangs as he studied her face carefully. The air slid past easily, drawing attention to the braid that now flapped slightly in the wind.

"She's right," He said softly, "It's a girl." Anger shot through Haruka. Sick of the games and confusion she tore away from the crowd, darting to a bathroom. Yet all the while she was shrouded by a mist of confusion.

She pinched the bridge of her nose to stop the bleeding and the washed off her face and hands, also running her hands under the water to ease the pain caused by her own punches. After she was clean to her satisfaction, Haruka looked at herself through her bangs in the mirror.  
She had fooled them all she thought, only now realizing they had thought her truly male. The idea shocked her as she put on her jacket,  
hiding the braid again.

She was about to pull her braid loose, but stopped, studying her reflection. She turned her head a little, noticing for the first time her own features without the long hair to specify her gender. It was then that she realized the effects of the unconscious action she had taken when putting on her jacket in the music room. . . . Her eyes began to water.

She didn't want their pity or their wrath, she just wanted to be left alone. To do something she wanted to do, that something she knew was there, that was still out there. It felt like she had always done what her parents had wanted, what her teachers wanted, but it hadn't been enough, it wasn't her! Not on the inside and she knew it! Tears dripped down her face. She wanted to be stronger than that, but she couldn't. Her parents had stifled her, so the moment she felt like something was right, she didn't have the endurance or training to follow through. She didn't want that girl sticking up for her, she had always had to do everything herself from her parents' neglect and didn't lean on anyone.  
She didn't want to have to lean on anyone.

Idly, Haruka wished to be like the wind, no one could hurt the wind, flying passed you without fear, shape or size. It was invincible and strong. Both subtle and very loud. And it never could be hurt or made to cry.

Vowing to herself that she would change, that she'd be stronger, that no one would stop her from being her ever again, that she'd become the wind. . . she broke down into sobs. They wracked her body as she sat in the corner hugging her legs to her chest tightly, shaking as the heartwrenching tears streamed down her face. Dripping onto her pantlegs, soaking them in her tears. The nine year old couldn't take the shame, she had run away. Just like any other spineless young girl. Her sobs began to quiet as she sniffled loudly in the empty bathroom.

"But next time . . . next time . . ." She vowed to the bathroom, brushing away the offensive tears, "Just wait til then . . ."

--- 


	10. Neptune

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 9 - 'Blossoming of Passion'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Neptune'

Michiru sat contentedly in her mother's warm arms. It was a place that made her feel safe and cozy. The darkness of night receded into bright pure light as they passed through a pair of immense doors. Looking away from her mother's pretty face, Michiru gave a small cry of awe at what she saw.

There were pretty clothes everywhere and in all colors, the fabrics shimmering in the dim light. Her wide eyes took in every shining gem, twist of hair and white glove. Her mother walked through the crowd of colorful styles beside her escorting father. Turning her love of pretty things onto herself, she looked down at her own form to see she was wearing a pretty white dress, her short green curls falling into her view.

Her mother sat down again, holding Michiru firmly to her. She could see the soft seat of the chair beneath her mother's black dress. A small group of people sat down in the row before Michiru, the woman directly in front of the small child placing a very fuzzy wrap around the back of the theater seat. Engrossed in the soft look of the fabric, Michiru reached out towards the wrap longingly. Her mother's gloved hand caught her smaller one before the folds of soft fabric came into her reach.

"No Michiru-chan. That doesn't belong to us." Her mother scolded softly and gently, sounding very little like a scolding. "Ohh, look at the pretty lights, dear."

Her mother's hand pointed nearly straight up and Michiru craned her neck in order to see what she pointed to. The tiny child let out a cry of joy at seeing the immense lamp that glittered overhead. For many long moments she stared at the crystalline gems that hung in intricate patterns from above. The little electric candles glowed brightly, sending sparkling light throughout the huge theater.

The lights suddenly dimmed and she blinked in surprise at the loss of the attractive object overhead. A whimper began to form in the back of Michiru's throat, she wanted the light back! Her whimper never came, as a sudden movement from the stage caught her attention as the heavy red curtains were opened and the announcer stepped forward.

He began to babble a long and difficult to understand speech that would bore any infant like herself. Michiru also lost interest, beginning to fuss in her mother's firm grip. Thankfully, she noticed the slight sway of the heavy curtains caused by the powered air vents and became engrossed in them quickly.

Clapping ensued and Michiru eyes bugged as she glanced around quickly in alarm. When the noise settled, she returned to her calm state, watching the pretty sway of the curtains. Her thoughts and admiration of the simple fabric were interrupted by a new sound.

She stared at the man on the stage, something held near his face. It was similar to the way her mother held her bottle, his hand supporting the object from beneath with fingers crawling around to the skyward surface, but it was tucked under his chin and much longer. The deep chestnut object shone in the light, a stick dragged across it's surface. Michiru was sure the sounds came from that odd contraption, but how was a mystery to her.

Yet the sounds themselves were magic to her. Her eyes sparkled in delight at the changing sound patterns, so rich and majestic pulled at the small child's heart strings. She watched entranced by the music, never having heard anything like it before. The chords of music danced through her head, deep and soothing, more warming to the child's soul than her mother's soft singing. It enchanted her to feel the pulse of the tune, it echoed through her, like water spilling over her, playing on her simple emotions. She could feel the love and sorrow in the music, although their meaning was beyond her. Her heart sung to hear these sounds, it was a power that she could not understand, but one that she could appreciate.

The pulse began to slow and Michiru began to feel a little loss as the piece ended. The audience erupted into applause a moment after the music's completion, and in understanding this custom, Michiru mimicked her mother and father.

The rest of the show seemed very long to Michiru, who sat, waiting for more of the same music, but finding none came. There were other sounds made by many other odd objects, but none seemed as dear to her as that first one. None could match the deep, vibrating echoes that had touched the tiny girl so much.

Clapping announced the end of another music arrangement as the man with the odd brown object came back, a woman carrying a matching object following him. Michiru leaned forward, staring at the two intently as the sounds forced from those chestnut brown things filled her soul. She could feel the music echoing through her, calling to her. She ached with the feel of these instruments and the passion they drew from her. She so longed to touch that thing herself, to fill this grand room with those delightful sounds herself.

And before she knew it the musical magic was over. Allowing a small sound of satisfaction to escape her, Michiru let her body's fatigue overcome her. She knew from her internal clock that it was very Late. Late lead to Tired and Tired . . . lead . . . to . . . Sleep.

She heard talking, the soothing voices of her parents and a wonderfully rumbling baritone that gave her a warm feeling also. Lazily she opened her large eyes, a light haze covering her sight. With a yawn, she blinked, adjusting her eyes to the light of the room.

It was unfamiliar, but nice. A few chairs, a dresser and mirror, a coat-rack and the sofa on which she laid. Her mother sat next to her and her father was on a chair nearby. The third voice came from a wonderfully looking man, who sat on a last chair. Michiru's eyes widened in recognition. It was the same man who'd played her favorite thing! She stared at him for a while, listening to the words that escaped into the room, whether or not they meant anything to her besides being words.

Slowly she allowed her eyes to wander around the room more, although not really wanting to take them away from this remarkable man. Her gaze roamed, finally settling on the table between the three pieces of furniture occupied. And to her joy there was that amazing chestnut brown object. It rested in a velvet cushion, surrounded in an open black case, and it called to her.

She forgot everything else as her mother set her on the floor. Creeping to the table, Michiru pulled herself up to the low table so her small chest rested against the edge. Stretching one little arm out to the instrument, she heard a deep rumbling chuckle. So looked up, eyes very wide, finding herself looking at the man. He smiled at her curiosity and said something to her parents she didn't quite grasp before standing.

He continued his chatter, with her eyes glued to his every move as he rummaged about. With a sudden cry of victory, he held up another black case, this one being alot smaller in size. He put it on the table, near it's partner as he picked her up, setting her deep into the couch beside her mother. He turned slightly, still talking as he opened the smaller case. He turned to her with a miniature object, identical to the one on the table she loved so dearly, and said something she finally understood.

"Here, Little one." He placed it in her lap as she made a sound of awe.  
Her parents made sounds of protest as he did so. Yet they were forgotten to the small girl, enchanted by the object. The man chuckled again at her response, patting it fondly.

"It's a violin, Little one." Violin. The word rolled off his tongue as she gazed at it lovingly, stars in her saucer-wide eyes. Her tiny hands stroking the deep chestnut surface fondly, playing across the tight strings, making the slightest of sounds, a tinkling laughter escaping her lips.

The man looked at her delight, her joy and enchantment bringing a reminiscent smile to his own lips. "It's yours. A gift, Michiru-chan." She looked up at him, an understanding and love of the fine art that only another musician can share in her eyes. It nearly brought tears to his eyes, to witness the blossoming of a musician before him, the deep love of music unmistakable. Her parents would protest, they both knew, that a child so young could not possibly keep such a valuable item.

He laughed. "And am I to play it? Ne, it's too small for me, and I feel that such a gift is one she will come to appreciate, if not already. I have seen the look in her eyes, Kaioh-san, it's the same one I've seen in the eyes of many a musician, and artist too, who deeply love what they do with an undying passion. She too, will play someday, my friend,  
and this way she'll have her own violin ready for that day."

The other adults shared one of those parentally concerned looks. Gazing at the enraptured Michiru, they saw that they would not soon break that new toy from their daughter's loving grasp. Her father sighed.

"Alright, alright, Kim-san, she'll keep the violin for you. I don't think we could take it away from her at this point anyhow. But at least let us pay you for it . . ."

He cut Mr. Kaioh off. "Please, my payment and reward will be to see this young protege blossom into a talented musician before I am too far gone to appreciate it's majesty. That is all I need." He said, a sparkle in his eyes. "Just let her learn. That is all I ask."

He looked at the girl again, who gazed at him with adoration and thanks, the joy in her eyes telling him all he needed to know. Music was to play an important part in this child's life. It would become one with her until, like him, her music would cause audiences to hush and relate her passion and emotion to the world. It was something that only another musician or person deeply passionate with music could understand or feel. They shared a secretive smile. And they both knew that this was her first step into a larger world.

--- 


	11. Pluto

The Early Moon Chronicles by Michaela Wills

Story 10 - 'Beyond the Mist'  
or 'A Younger Sailor Pluto'

And then she was pushed. Setsuna fell to her knees, hearing a great iron latch shut behind her. Clang!  
"N-n-nooooo!" She wailed, throwing herself at the iron gates, shaking the bars harshly.

"LEMME GO, LEMME GO!" she yelled into the bars, "It's not fair . . .  
I don't even know what I've done. . ." She whispered. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, LEMME GO!" she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Please . . . what did I do wrong?" she looked around quickly, finding nothing but mist on all sides.

It was then she really looked through the bars on the gates. She drew in her breath sharply, watching a great blast of white light covering the Earth's moon. She blinked, then seeing a great war, big iron monstrous machines plowing through people and anything laying in it's path. She saw a frozen wasteland in the next second, dead of all life. Next was a dark planet, great bolts of electric light flying from it. More scenes flickered through the mists, light beams, dark shadows, green meadows, red mountains, blue oceans, white mists, gray rains, destruction, creation, pain, misery, joy, love, anger, hatred, prejudice, death. Now she was frightened again.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEE!" She screamed jumping from the barred path. Suddenly she saw a woman, long pale blond hair and a beautiful white dress on the other side of the gates. She was the opposite of everything she had just witnessed, innocence, warmth and unending love. Cautiously she approached the fearsome iron again. When her hand touched the surface the woman disappeared. Setsuna threw a hand through the barrier, reaching for the faded woman. She cried out again.

"NOOOO!" She shook the bars again, "COME BACK! PLEASE COME BACK!" tears streamed down her soft cheeks as she cried out, pleading to the mist. "What's going on . . ." Suddenly she began screaming again.

"IS ANYBODY HERE? SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!" She began to quiet down, "Please? . . . Anybody! . . . SOMEBODY! . . . DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" She threw herself from the bars in hysterics, crying violently. She looked around a little, seeing a big key lying on the ground.

Still crying, instinct told her to pick up the key. Doing so, she leaned the tall item against the gate's support column. She leaned against that column herself, sliding down it with her back pressed to it. Once she was sitting on the ground, knees pulled tightly to her chest she let any sense of composure vanish. She cried with deep, breathy sobs into her legs, letting her long hair shelter her from the dark foreboding world around her. Her body shook from her actions uncontrollably.

Hours passed meaninglessly as she allowed her tears to subside. They no longer shook her physically, but still ran from her eyes like streams of lake water. Thinking she heard something, her breath caught in her throat. Unconsciously, Setsuna allowed an instinct to control her motions, energy coursing through her veins, flowing to her hands and building. She looked up to see a man, tall about twenty with dark hair tinted with highlights of deep blue. He wore a midnight blue suit and cape as he stood before her. Just as unconsciously as before the built energy vanished.

"Why are you crying, Guardian of Time?" He asked quietly. She sniffled.

"Guardian of Time? I'm not the Guardian of Time, I'm Meioh Setsuna and just a little girl. I don't know why I'm here, or who sent me, I just want to go h-home!" Her breath had caught on the last word and she had begun to cry hysterically again. The man knelt beside her.

"Oh dear . . ." He said, "I was afraid of this when I saw you." He caught her gaze, "No one told you why you were here?"

"N-no . . . nobody." she whispered, touched by the softness in his voice. He gave her a warm and comforting smile. Her tears began to subside, this man made her feel like everything was fine, that she'd be okay.

"When I first arrived, no one had told me why I was here either. But after a little while, the Guardian of Time found me and told me my purpose here." He sat down beside her, "Well Setsuna-san, it looks like I now must return the favor done to me. Are you ready to listen?" He asked, handing her a small white handkerchief. She accepted it, drying her sunken eyes nodding, barely conscious of the formality her had used with her.

"You are Meioh Setsuna, but you are also Sailor Pluto of the Silver Millennium. Sailor Pluto is also known as the Guardian of Time, as it is her job to guard these Gates behind us, the Gates of Time. She is to see that no one tries to pass through these gates without due reason and knowledge of the consequences. Only in rare circumstances is anyone to pass through these gates." He paused a minute to let this sink in. "Sailor Pluto has the power of time itself at her command, she can stop it, pass through it and is one of the most powerful people in this system. You are she."

Setsuna looked at him with incredulous disbelief. "I can't control time, I'm just a little girl, I only turned six last month!" Oddly enough he laughed at her comment.

"That is not true. Meioh Setsuna is six years old, but when you are here at the Gates of Time, you are not Meioh Setsuna, at least not the Meioh Setsuna you speak of. Here you automatically take on the form of Sailor Pluto, simply by entering this realm through those gates. Sailor Pluto is not six years old. She is nearly ageless, and the Pluto I know is a beautiful woman who looks about twenty. But truthfully, she is several thousands of years old. She is as old as the Silver Millennium, and has grown more so since it's fall. And will continue to until it's redemption and even further."

She stared at the dark haired man, still disbelieving. He sighed, a tall staff appeared in his hand, a pale golden key, similar to the lavender one that leaned against the gates. He waved it before them and a large mirror materialized. "Look upon your reflection, Sailor Pluto. See your true self, not Meioh Setsuna, but the great and powerful wielder of Time that you are destined to always be."

Setsuna stood up, shock by the sight. She was not the little girl she'd been when pushed through the Gates. She was very tall, a young woman, a mature body and face. She didn't wear her school suit either. A pair of black, heeled boots climbed her legs, nearly reaching her knees. A very short black skirt, a white sleeveless bodysuit, a black sailor suit collar, a black band around her throat. White gloves graced her lower arms. Looking at her matured face a tiara with a red stone lay across her forehead, the dark green hair at her crown was pulled into a bun at the back, revealing a pair of garnet earrings which matched the charm attached to the black band at her throat.

She started at the sight and the reflection did the same. Stunned she watched the mirror image approach the glass, stroking the surface, meeting her own fingers on the mirror's face. "It's true . . ." She whispered, "I'm not Meioh Setsuna . . ."

The man stood behind her, holding the lavender key. She watched him approach her in the mirror's reflection, turning to face him. He handed her the key. "This is your Garnet Staff, I'll show you how to use the Staff and your powers later." He patted her shoulder comfortingly, "You have taken in alot today. I'll show you all you need to know, but not right now. Now just rest and make sure no one passes through the Gates. I'll be back soon."

He began to walk away from her. Fear once again overcame the woman, who still held the heart of a young girl, "Wait!" She called, staggering towards him in the awkward heels. He stopped and turned back to her. She stopped and stood up straight. "Who are you and why are you here?"

He gave her the same warm smile, "I am a Guardian of Gates like yourself, but I guard the Gates between this realm and the realm of the dead. The Gates of Life. My name is Cerberus. I'm a long time friend of Sailor Pluto and hope to continue that friendship."

She smiled at him as he turned from her and continued walking into the mist until she could see him no longer.

--- 


End file.
